Track for removable sign letters

ABSTRACT

A track system comprising essentially two kinds of parts, namely a row of clips fastened to an appropriate sheet background wherein the legs of the clips stand forwardly away from the background, and one or more substantially H-shaped tracks wherein opposite edges of one leg of the H are attached to free ends of respective clips, whereby to mount the track clear of the sheet background, and wherein the leg which is held by the clip is at a location clear of fastening means used to attach the clip to the sheet background.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Lloyd C. Ownbey Vernon, Calif. [2]]Appl. No. 777,234 [22] Filed Nov. 20, 1968 [45] Patented Apr. 13, 1971[73] Assignee Bevelite Mfg. Company Vernon, Calif.

[54] TRACK FOR REMOVABLE SIGN LETTERS 4 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 40/140, 40/125, 248/223, 248/316 [5 l] Int. Cl G09f 1/00[50] Field of Search 228/223, 224, 225, 316.5, 226.5; 16/94; 40/125,140, 142

[56] References Cited UNIT ED STATES PATENTS 3,175,796 3/1965 Petrick248/223 3,230,652 l/1966 McNair 40/14OX 3,330,518 7/1967 Adler 248/223FOREIGN PATENTS 519,379 5/1953 Belgium 40/142 251,227 12/1966 Germany16/94 953,087 3/1964 Great Britain 40/ l 40 Primary ExaminerRoy D.Frazier Assistant Examiner-J. Franklin Foss AttorneyBeehler & ArantABSTRACT: A track system comprising essentially two kinds of parts,namely a row of clips fastened to an appropriate sheet backgroundwherein the legs of the clips stand forwardly away from the background,and one or more substantially l-l-shaped tracks wherein opposite edgesof one leg of the H are attached to free ends of respective clips,whereby to mount the track clear of the sheet background, and whereinthe leg which is held by the clip is at a location clear of fasteningmeans used to attach the clip to the sheet background.

Patented April 13, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ZZOJ O CZ OHM/5 5V INVEN'IOR.

BY 5M %M TRACK FOR REMOVABLE SIGN LETTERS A common use heretofore madeof relatively large interchangeable plastic letters has been in signsfor such things as motion picture houses, supermarkets, publicbuildings, and many comparable locations, where the background of thesign itself is substantially permanent and is equipped to receiveinterchangeable sign characters mounted thereon, with an attachmentwhich readily permits the character to be removed and replaced byanother. One of the things which characterizes such installations is thesubstantially permanent character of the background and the tracks whichform a part of the background assembly.

There are, however, an increasing number of locations where it would beadvantageous to make use of removable sign characters against virtuallyany type of background, provided that there were adequate tracks foraccepting the interchangeable letters which could be attached to such abackground. Characteristic backgrounds are plastic sheet sidewalls,corrugated metal sidewalls, plywood partitions, and virtually any moreor less flat vertical surface which would serve as a means forsupporting a sign.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a new and improvedtrack system for interchangeable sign characters which can be readilymounted on virtually any type of vertically standing sheet backgroundmaterial.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved tracksystem for interchangeable sign characters which is simple andinexpensive in cost and particularly easy to attach in proper positionupon a sheet background which is already in place.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedtrack system for mounting interchangeable sign characters wherein meansfor fastening individual tracks against a sheet background is of suchcharacter that the tracks when mounted thereon stand clear of thebackground and therefore minimize the accumulation of dirt which mightotherwise collect on the upper surface of the track.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedtrack system for mounting interchangeable sign characters wherein thetrack itself is specially formed so that not only does it clear thesheet background upon which it may be attached, but also effectivelyclears any fastening means which might protrude outwardly from clipswhich are used to mount the track on the background.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in theconstruction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of thedevice, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafterset forth, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

HO. 1 is a front perspective view of a fragment of sheet I backgroundshowing the track system in place and a typical sign character mountedthereon.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 2-2 of HG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

P10. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view on the line 55 ofFIG. 2.

FlG. 6 is a cross-sectional view on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view on the line 7-7 ofFIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an elevational view of the rear of one of the fasteningelements.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the clip on a sheet background and afragment of track in the position occupied immediately prior toengagement.

In an embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose of illustrationthere is shown a sheet background 10 which may be a sheet of fiberreinforced plastic, plywood, sheet metal, or virtually any uprightstructural plane surface material, and which has a rear face 11 and afront face 12. ln the chosen embodiment there are two horizontal linesof clips consisting of clips 13, 13 forming one line, and clips l4, 14forming another line. All of the clips l3, l3, l4, 14 are substantiallyidentical and a description of one will therefore suffice for all. Eachclip consists of a pair of spaced legs 15 and 16 joined at captive endsby a web 17. The leg 15 at its forward or free end 18 has a bent portion19 which forms an inwardly facing concave recess 20. The bent portion 19and accordingly the concave recess 20 is spaced a substantial distanceforwardly from the plane of the web 17 as clearly shown in FIGS. 2,7,and 9. Similarly, on a free end 21 of the leg 16 there is a bent portion22 forming an inwardly facing concave recess 23, similar to the concaverecess 20. A rivet 25 extending through a hole 26 in the web 17 has anexpanded portion 26 extending over the rear face 11 of the sheetbackground 10 and a head'27 retaining a washer 28 against the web 17,thereby to hold the clip in each instance in engagement with the sheetbackground 10.

Tracks 30 and 31 are retained respectively by the clips 13, 13', and l4,14. In practice, the clips are customarily set on about l8-inch centersand the tracks may come in lengths as long as l0 feet each, or any cutsection of such lengths.

Each track, as for example the track 30, has an outside web 32, aninside web 33 substantially parallel to each other, and a transverse web34 interconnecting intermediate portions of the outside and inside web.The inside web 33 is specially formed with oppositely extendingsubstantially parallel upper and lower flanges 35 and 36 and aninterconnecting section 37 between the upper and lower flanges. Theupper and lower flanges lie substantially in the same plane and haveoutside and inside surfaces. It is significant to note further that theinterconnecting section 37 is offset relative to the plane of the upperand lower flanges 35 and 36, whereby to provide a longitudinallyextending groove 38 having a depth in the chosen embodiment about equalto the thickness of the flanges 35, 36. It should be further noted thatthe outside web 32 has an upper flange 39 substantially wider than alower flange 40, the flanges lying on opposite sides of the transverseweb 34.

In operation the clips 13, l3and 14, 14 are fastened to the sheetbackground 10 by appropriate fastening means such as the rivets 25, theclips being in vertically spaced horizontal lines. Then the track 30 or31, as the case may be, is extended between the legs of the respectiveclips with upper and lower flanges 35 and 36 being retained in therespective concave recess 20 and 23. When the track is in pla c, it maybe found advisable to crimp the clips and in particular the bentportions 19 and 22, as the case may be, to more snugly grip the flangesof the track. Mounted in this fashion, the inside web 33 of the trackstands clear of the sheet background, there being a space 41therebetween as clearly shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. The tracks are thenready for mounting thereon a sign character, like the character 45,which in the chosen embodiment chances to be the letter H. The character45 has upper brackets 46 riveted or otherwise attached to a lateralvertically extending flange 47 of the character 45, the bracket having arearwardly extending hook 48 which engages over the upper flange 39 ofthe outside web 32 of the track. At the lower portion of the character45 is a spring clip 50 which has upper and lower spring fingers S1 and52, respectively, which engage over respective opposite upper and lowerflanges 39 and of the track 31 which is in the lower position. Thecharacter can be readily removed by merely pulling the lower end loose,whereupon the spring fingers 51 and 52 spread while disengaging from thetrack 31 and the book 48 can be lifted from the upper track 30.Conversely, when applying the character 45 the hook 48 is first hookedover the upper track and then the spring fingers 51 and 52 engaged withthe lower track 31. Should lateral spacing of the character not beprecisely as wished, the character can be shifted toward the left ortoward the right along the tracks.

While the invention has herein been shown and described in what isconceived to be a practical and effective embodiment, it is recognizedthat departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention,which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to beaccorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and allequivalent devices.

lclaim:

l. A track system for mounting removable individual sign characters on astationary background sheet comprising a plurality of horizontallyspaced clips fastened to the sheet along a horizontal line, each clipcomprising a pair of vertically spaced legs and a web connectingtogether the ends of said legs adjacent-the sheet and a hole in said webfor reception of a fastening member having a forwardly projecting head,inwardly facing concave recesses on respective free ends of said legs,and a horizontal track element carried by said clips, said track elementcomprising an outside web for temporary engagement with the removableindividual sign characters, an inside web substantially parallel to saidoutside web and a transverse web interconnecting intermediate portionsof said outside and inside webs, said inside web having oppositelyextending substantially parallel flanges on respective opposite sides ofsaid transverse web and in engagement with respective recesses in saidlegs of the clip, said inside web having an inwardly facing concavegroove intermediate said flanges providing a clearance between saidtrack and said heads of the fastening members and said track beingspaced from said sheet, at least two vertically spaced horizontal linesof clips and a track for each line of clips, each sign character havingat least one pair of vertically spaced respective upper and lowerbrackets, the upper bracket comprising a hook overlying the upper sideof the upper of said tracks when in use, and the lower bracketcomprising spring fingers in engagement with opposite edges of the lowerof said tracks when in use.

2. A track system as in claim 1 wherein said flanges of the inside webof the track have front and rear substantially flat faces and theflanges lie in the same plane.

3. A track system as in claim 1 wherein said outside web has an upperflange on one side of said transverse web wider than a lower flange onthe opposite side of said web.

4. A track system for mounting removable individual sign characters on astationary background sheet comprising a plurality of horizontallyspaced clips fastened to the sheet along a horizontal line, each clipcomprising a pair of vertically spaced legs and a web connectingtogether the ends of said legs adjacent the sheet and a hole in said webfor reception of a fastening member having a forwardly projecting head,inwardly facing concave recesses on respective free ends of said legs,and a horizontal track element carried by said clips, said track elementcomprising an outside web for "temporary engagement with the removableindividual sign characters, an inside web substantially parallel to saidoutside web and a transverse web interconnecting intermediate portionsof said outside and inside webs, said inside web having oppositelyextending substantially parallel flanges on respective opposite sides ofsaid transverse web and in engagement with respective recesses in saidlegs of the clip, said inside web having an inwardly facing concavegroove intermediate said flanges providing a clearance between saidtrack and said heads of the fastening members and said track beingspaced from said sheet, each sign character having a bracket comprisingspring fingers in engagement with opposite edges of the lower of saidtracks when in use.

1. A track system for mounting removable individual sign characters on astationary background sheet comprising a plurality of horizontallyspaced clips fastened to the sheet along a horizontal line, each clipcomprising a pair of vertically spaced legs and a web connectingtogether the ends of said legs adjacent the sheet and a hole in said webfor reception of a fastening member having a forwardly projecting head,inwardly facing concave recesses on respective free ends of said legs,and a horizontal track element carried by said clips, said track elementcomprising an outside web for temporary engagement with the removableindividual sign characters, an inside web substantially parallel to saidoutside web and a transverse web interconnecting intermediate portionsof said outside and inside webs, said inside web having oppositelyextending substantially parallel flanges on respective opposite sides ofsaid transverse web and in engagement with respective recesses in saidlegs of the clip, said inside web having an inwardly facing concavegroove intermediate said flanges providing a clearance between saidtrack and said heads of the fastening members and said track beingspaced from said sheet, at least two vertically spaced horizontal linesof clips and a track for each line of clips, each sign character havingat least one pair of vertically spaced respective upper and lowerbrackets, the upper bracket comprising a hook overlying the upper sideof the upper of said tracks when in use, and the lower bracketcomprising spring fingers in engagement with opposite edges of the lowerof said tracks when in use.
 2. A track system as in claim 1 wherein saidflanges of the inside web of the track have front and rear substantiallyflat faces and the flanges lie in the same plane.
 3. A track system asin claim 1 wherein said outside web has an upper flange on one side ofsaid transverse web wider than a lower flange on the opposite side ofsaid web.
 4. A track system for mounting removable individual signcharacters on a stationary background sheet comprising a plurality ofhorizontally spaced clips fastened to the sheet along a horizontal line,each clip comprising a pair of vertically spaced legs and a webconnecting together the ends of said legs adjacent the sheet and a holein said web for reception of a fastenIng member having a forwardlyprojecting head, inwardly facing concave recesses on respective freeends of said legs, and a horizontal track element carried by said clips,said track element comprising an outside web for temporary engagementwith the removable individual sign characters, an inside websubstantially parallel to said outside web and a transverse webinterconnecting intermediate portions of said outside and inside webs,said inside web having oppositely extending substantially parallelflanges on respective opposite sides of said transverse web and inengagement with respective recesses in said legs of the clip, saidinside web having an inwardly facing concave groove intermediate saidflanges providing a clearance between said track and said heads of thefastening members and said track being spaced from said sheet, each signcharacter having a bracket comprising spring fingers in engagement withopposite edges of the lower of said tracks when in use.